More politics in the Police Bureau (Pittsburgh: 2015, school district, to live in)

[tyovan4]

Chief strives to hire more minority officers | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This just really makes my blood boil.
I don't understand why the media is not giving a harder time to the Peduto administration over the abysmally low homicide clearance rate. Murderers have a 50% chance of getting away with their crime. And now Peduto's police chief shows he is not interested in hiring the most qualified applicants, but in hiring the most politically correct applicants to the Police Bureau.

Doesn't the Chief understand how the civil service hiring process works? The job gets offered to the most qualified applicant, as determined by an impartial exam. Period.

This is so typical for the Peduto administration and is numero uno for why I can't stand them - they exhibit time and time again that they are more interested in cementing their progressive bona fides than in engaging in effective, impartial, evidence-based governance.

[UKyank]

Can't imagine why applications are down to be a police officer

[I_Like_Spam]

The Pittsburgh PD has a lot of problems, one of which is how many of its trained officers quit after just a few years to take jobs in suburban departments- forcing the city to spend add'l money to hire and send replacements through the academy.


I don't see how this is going to change that dynamic.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

Chief strives to hire more minority officers | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This just really makes my blood boil.
I don't understand why the media is not giving a harder time to the Peduto administration over the abysmally low homicide clearance rate. Murderers have a 50% chance of getting away with their crime. And now Peduto's police chief shows he is not interested in hiring the most qualified applicants, but in hiring the most politically correct applicants to the Police Bureau.

Doesn't the Chief understand how the civil service hiring process works? The job gets offered to the most qualified applicant, as determined by an impartial exam. Period.

This is so typical for the Peduto administration and is numero uno for why I can't stand them - they exhibit time and time again that they are more interested in cementing their progressive bona fides than in engaging in effective, impartial, evidence-based governance.

Since when are "interviews" bias proof. I know a guy who scored high on the exam, but was rejected based on an interview. I'd hate to be black and have you be the interviewer, as I'm sure you'd find some excuse to reject me.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

Since when are "interviews" bias proof. I know a guy who scored high on the exam, but was rejected based on an interview. I'd hate to be black and have you be the interviewer, as I'm sure you'd find some excuse to reject me.

I'm familiar with the civil service process and know that oral interviews are usually the second step of hiring, after a written exam to impartially find the most qualified applicants to interview.

What I'm complaining about is the political correctness machine introducing bias into the selection process.

And your assertion that I would automatically reject an applicant just because they're black is unfounded and offensive. I don't believe there should be a place for any racial discrimination in this country - and affirmative action programs are a form of racial discrimination. I am simply advocating having the most qualified applicants hired - not monkeying with civil service examination processes in the name of political correctness while there are many more pressing issues going unaddressed.

[Lobick]

I for one, as a City resident and taxpayer, applaud the efforts of the administration to hire a police force that more accurately represents the demographics of the City they are pledged to serve. That politics, meaning the democratic mechanism for the governed of a certain municipality to express their views, goals, wants and desires and have those reflected in the policies instituted seems to me a rather unremarkable proposition. That so many have the view that the Police Department should somehow be above the control of its citizenry and their elected officials is suggestive to me as a potential source of some of the divide we've seen across America between the officers and the citizens they police. I'm comfortable with the notion that "Politics" should determine the "qualifications" used in the hiring process.

I strongly supported the residency requirement for Police officers despite the fact that I understood certain "qualified" individuals would choose not to apply because they wanted to live outside of the community. I felt the "qualification" I most wanted to see in a new officer was a devotion to the City and its people. If they want to live in McCandless, let them police McCandless. I'm not sure how that devotion is measured in a civil service exam. I'm hard pressed to accept that anybody could feel that the best way to pick a future police officer is through the results of a written exam.

I'd also suggest that the low homicide clearance rate might be a function of the lack of community cooperation with the police. A more diverse, engaged police force might garner greater community cooperation. Maybe not, but continuing to do the same thing is certain to produce unsatisfactory results. From what I could tell, the Pittsburgh Police bureau was and is a somewhat backward institution that more accurately reflected this City 30 years ago. That the administration and the new chief have chosen to attempt to shake things up a bit and reject the way things have always been done is a welcomed change to this constituent.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Lobick

I strongly supported the residency requirement for Police officers despite the fact that I understood certain "qualified" individuals would choose not to apply because they wanted to live outside of the community. I felt the "qualification" I most wanted to see in a new officer was a devotion to the City and its people. If they want to live in McCandless, let them police McCandless. I'm not sure how that devotion is measured in a civil service exam. I'm hard pressed to accept that anybody could feel that the best way to pick a future police officer is through the results of a written exam.

The problem is that a fair number of city police officers are quitting for jobs in Mccandless or elsewhere, because of the restrictions on city residency. Some officers have families and children, they want to see their kids go to a high quality school district. Others see their careers at a dead end in the city, and feel they can progress further by taking a job in another community.


It costs a lot of money to recruit new officers and to send them to the academy. I can see making residency a restriction for applicants and for recently sworn in officers, but I think it would be better to allow cops with, say 5 years on the job, live where they want to help with the retention factor.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

It costs a lot of money to recruit new officers and to send them to the academy. I can see making residency a restriction for applicants and for recently sworn in officers, but I think it would be better to allow cops with, say 5 years on the job, live where they want to help with the retention factor.

What a very good, common-sense, middle-ground, idea that is a great compromise for the residency requirement! When the union and the City have been fighting over the residency requirement in the media, it seems to be an all-or-none approach with the negotiations - but I think this can help placate the legitimate points of both parties.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

The problem is that a fair number of city police officers are quitting for jobs in Mccandless or elsewhere, because of the restrictions on city residency. Some officers have families and children, they want to see their kids go to a high quality school district. Others see their careers at a dead end in the city, and feel they can progress further by taking a job in another community.

A better solution would be to weed more of those people out during the application process. For example, trying harder to recruit from groups that are less likely to ever want to live in McCandless.

Really, what you argue (and I don't have any idea if it is true or not) is making a financial case for affirmative action.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by Lobick

That politics, meaning the democratic mechanism for the governed of a certain municipality to express their views, goals, wants and desires and have those reflected in the policies instituted seems to me a rather unremarkable proposition.

Do you understand the point of the civil service process? It is to remove patronage/nepotism, discrimination, and politics from the hiring process for civil servants.